South Korea launches bid to host 2023 AFC Asian Cup after China’s exit due to Covid-19 concerns

South Korea are set to launch a bid to host the 2023 Asian Cup. The premier continental competition was earlier scheduled to be held in China. However, they backed out due to concerns over Covid-19. The Korean Football Association on Monday said that they would like to proceed with the application of the bid after their sports minister gave a go-ahead last week.

"The Korea Football Association is promoting the bid for the '2023 AFC Asian Cup' hosted by the AFC in Korea," KFA said in a notice on their website.

"Therefore, we would like to proceed with the application for bid from local governments that have stadiums that can host international games, such as domestic soccer-only stadiums and



general sports grounds.”

India will have high hopes from their campaign in the Asian Cup after the Sunil Chhetri-led team qualified in stunning style. They defeated all teams in their group with flamboyant performances and ticked most of the boxes, albeit against weaker teams.

India will hope that their veteran captain can keep on going till next year and put in good performance for the team and break some records along the way as well. Chhetri recently completed his 17th year in world football, and touched the international goal tally of legendary Ferenc Puskas. In terms of currently active players, the Indian is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in terms of most goals for his country.